Literally Rewritten
by AlexxFury
Summary: When the Maker sends Ferelden's only princess back to the Dragon Age to save her life, it's a race against time and teenage hormones to get her back home safely without changing the past. But when she's caught in a love triangle with a man condemned to death and a man destined to rule, will she be able to resist testing the Butterfly Effect? M!Cousland, OC/OC, Alistair/OC


**Reboot of an old fanfiction I made 3-4 years ago.  
****Don't own Dragon Age or anything from it.**

* * *

Smoke billowed off the ground, like early morning fog with crawling tendrils that made sight fail. In the distance a fire blazed, it's warmly colored arms reaching towards me. It was like a request for an embrace and in my disoriented state, I crawled towards it, welcoming the comfort of hot red vapors licking my pale and pure

"PRINCESS!"  
Who was that? Some wandering servant come to aid me? Hadn't they all been slain during the first hour of the invasion?  
"PRINCESS COUSLAND!"

With a groggy sound I pushed myself to a sitting position. My skin was not unmarked like my clouded mind had shown me; long spindly arms extended from my shoulders, bare and dirty. My turquoise ballgown was equally dirty, it's taffeta skirt torn and stained with the blood of my maids. I looked up and saw the face of Sergeant Reylind. His worn face held many more lines than I remembered, making him look ten times his age.

"What happened, Reylind?" I asked in a strained voice, my throat feeling dry down to my lungs from the smoke.  
"Darkspawn. They've never come this far North before, I don't understand..." the man seemed genuinely frightened, and I realized that his daughter and her young children lived in Denerim, which had been swarmed. Little Millicent with her bright smile, jam-covered Geoffrey with his constant questions...it was too horrible to think about. I could hope that they and their mother had been evacuated in time, but the attack had been so sudden and we so unprepared. It was almost as if the beasts had planned this. But that was absurd, and implied a Blight, which this world hadn't seen in several thousand years.

I was pulled to my feet by small hands, and I turned to see an elf girl with dark caramel skin and sunbleached hair.  
"Valentina-"  
"No words, we must move." the Antivan mage murmured. Into my hands she pressed and object, heavy and about as large as an egg. I looked down to discover an amulet. The setting was ornate and silver, the design worn down almost flat. The stone inlay was an off-white, nearly grey, with a slightly faded emblem of Andraste's Flame under the surface. It was riddled with cracks, and looked impossibly old.

"Much magic is embedded into this silver," Valentina said, putting it around my neck as the squad of guards rushed us through the too-familiar corridors filled with blood and corpses of Darkspawn, humans and elves. "Ashes of Andraste Herself are in the stone."  
"Andraste's ashes?" I looked at her with a dumbfounded expression.  
"They will protect you. Ferelden needs a strong leader."  
"She has a strong leader in my father."  
A silence pregnant with uncomfortable knowledge was my response.

"What are you not telling me?"  
"The..." Reylind's hesitation did nothing for my nerves. "The throne room was breached before our men were mobilized. Your father..."  
"He fought the Warden's fight and died a Warden's death." Valentina said shortly.  
"...I need to see him."  
"No. He specifically ordered you to safety."  
"I need to see my father!"

I pulled away from the squad, but Valentina was strong for an elf. I found my grief-stricken form pinned to the wall and a sob tore from my lungs in a way that left my smoke stained trachea burning.  
"No! Forgive my impertinence your Highness but we have orders!" the High Mage hissed. "Your father is dead, you must accept that in your own time, but until now, you must allow us to take you to safety! You are the only living heir to the Cousland name. If you die, your line dies with you. Be a selfish bratty child when we are safe but until then you will follow _our _commands!"

"Darkspawn!

I could only look on as Darkspawn poured into the hallway. My father's men fought bravely but one by one the corrupted monsters felled them. Valentina's spells were not even effective against their increasing numbers. I clutched at the amulet that rested against my breast, praying to the Maker and His holy bride that it truly would protect me.  
"PRINCESS RUN! NOW!"  
A head bounced against the stone, almost comically. For a morbid moment, I compared it to the air-filled rubber ball that I had bought Geoffrey for his third birthday. Millicent had accidentally popped it, the air draining from it in a similar manner the the blood that spilled from the arteries in Ser Reylind's neck as his shocked face stared up at me from my feet. The slipper-clad extremities shook and kicked at the oddly heavy object as I turned tail and ran.

I knew this hallways so well I could navigate them with my eyes closed. I almost wanted to as I sped down them, seeing so many faces of my childhood, the terrified expressions of their final moments framed by blood. Eventually I no longer even looked where I was going, simply trying to get away. I could hear the nasty creatures close behind me, closing in on me.

They cut me off after what seemed like an eternity of running only on adrenaline and fear, forcing me down a dead end. The doors of the hallway were shut and likely locked, and they were too close behind for me to force my way into one of the rooms. Besides, the only result left me trapped even further. At the end of the hallway was a large stained glass window. A chance? A desperate act that could kill me, but the Darkspawn surely would.  
"Maker protect me!" I screamed, leaping at the window and curling up to protect my head and vulnerable front.

Wait, what floor was I on?

I was going to die. Better a quick death of impact than a slow one at the hands of 'spawn.

I screamed as I fell, my fear giving me more energy than I knew a small body like mine could contain. I braced myself for impact and-

I hit water with a loud splash that startled the breath out of me. I sank like a stone, dazed from how hard I had broken the surface. My eyes opened slowly, looking up at the far away world of land and air. My heavy dress was weighing my already sluggish body down and my formerly dry lungs felt wet now, and they screamed for air.

_How long can you hold your breath? Imagine if you let go..._

The amulet rose in the water, staying around my neck but reaching eye level. From the outer edges, the cracks in the material began to glow until they reached Andraste's Flame. The unnatural glow filled the blue emblem, and it looked like it truly burned under the water. In my mind I heard a voice, soft and maternal.

_My daughter._

It felt like arms wrapped around me, embracing me in a loving manner. My heavy taffeta dress was pulled from my body, leaving me in a corset and knickers.

_Seek Duncan._

Blackness dotted my vision as the surface seemed to grow closer to me. My weak body was turned around to show a woman. She radiated beauty and strength; I felt a plain, meek child in her presence.

_You have chosen your path my darling. _she said. Did she? I heard her words in my mind...or maybe, in my soul. _I will protect you all I can. Seek Duncan._

Her lips pressed to mine and I felt air flood into my lungs, life into my veins. The dark spots of my vision were overwhelmed - all of my vision was overwhelmed - by a grand, infinite light.

I lost consciousness.

_**-0-**_

I awoke several hours later, cold and underdressed. I was on a shoal near the bank, mostly dry and completely confused. Groggily, I sat up, recognizing my surroundings. I was maybe an hour's walk from Lothering, perhaps another two and a half away from Redcliffe if I was quick. I stood to my feet and quickly realized all I wore was knickers, my corset, and the shirt that went under my corset. They weren't bone dry, but it was enough that I didn't fear catching a cold. Besides, summer was soon to arrive, and the days were long and warm. I knew the people of Lothering could help me, and since they trip was shorter I felt safer traveling in that direction.

I waded through the knee-deep shallows to the shore, following the bank. It would lead me straight to the town and to help. I looked down at the cracked amulet resting against my pale breasts, wondering how it could have dragged me from the palace of Denerim all the way to Lake Calenhad. The power of the Maker was certainly confusing, but I was alive, and that was all that mattered to me.

I didn't like walking in my under garments, but I had little choice. Unless the Maker let me stumble upon some abandoned wagon that conveniently had clothes, I was stuck looking like a shunned prostitute. It felt odd to not feel skirts around my legs and yet not be in armor. My time in armor was limited to practicing with Rylind anyways...  
Thoughts of the soldier made me remember my final image of him, and my steps faltered for a moment as I gasped like I was out of breath.

"Don't even want to be a Warden..."  
"Please, Aedan, if all you're going to do is complain, do it silently."  
I looked up at the sound of unfamiliar voices, and ducked behind a bush.

A tall, coffee-skinned man with scars and a dark ponytail walked the packed down dirt road; he was accompanied by a slightly shorter brunet boy, no older than 18, with deep set blue eyes glaring at his booted feet.  
"I should've stayed in Highever, with my parents-"  
"Where you would be dead and useless. The Grey Wardens need a warrior like you, Aedan."  
Wardens!

I watched them excitedly now, following them quietly and keeping my cover of bushes.  
"And I _need_ to find my brother! Fuck this conscription bullshit!"  
"Please do not be so childish about this. Your parents would-"  
"Would what, be disappointed? The dead don't have feelings, Duncan, and I envy them for it."  
The older male, Duncan, stopped and turned to respond to the angst-ridden teen, but he froze as a noise rang out. I looked down under my bare feet to see a broken stick. Shit.

Duncan slowly unsheathed a shortsword from his hip and turned back around, towards the bush I hid behind.  
"Who's there?" he asked cautiously, slowly rounding it to find me, cowering and nearly naked.  
"V-Valoria." was all I managed before my vision went black and I felt my body fall like I was back in the water.

* * *

**R&R please.**


End file.
